Big Sky Conference

Murray still searching for consistency as MSU offense tries to manufacture points

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On the bus ride from Greeley to Denver, Montana State soaked up its thrilling last-second win over Northern Colorado.

For the first time in the Jeff Choate era, the Bobcats assumed control late needing a drive of more than 70 yards in just over two minutes and executed one. Chris Murray’s 12-yard run with seven seconds left turned a 39-yard field goal into a 27-yarder, which sophomore Gabe Peppenger drilled with no time remaining.

The win is MSU’s third this season, one more than the Bobcats posted a year ago. On that victorious bus ride, the conversation amongst the Montana State coaches shifted to style and stats.

The Bobcats had just notched 28 first downs. MSU rushed for 297 yards, including 150 by Murray alone. MSU totaled 519 yards of offense on 95 plays, possessing the ball for just short of 40 minutes as the visitors at Nottingham Field. But Montana State failed to score more than 30 points for the sixth time in seven games this season.

Montana State quarterback Chris Murray

Stylistically, MSU has proven it can dominant possession with an elite running game. The Bobcats currently lead the league in rushing offense at 253 yards per game. MSU averages 5.6 yards per pop. Murray leads the league in individual rushing at 110 yards per outing and is seeking to become the first quarterback since Cal Poly’s Chris Brown in 2014 and second quarterback ever in Big Sky Conference history to rush for 1,000 yards.

Still, points have been harder to come by than rushing yards for a multitude of reasons. MSU has converted just four of its nine field goal attempts this season, including an 0-of-3 performance by now departed senior Luke Daly. Murray still finds himself prone to turnovers, most damaging ones like his interception in the red-zone at UNC.

The result is a Montana State offense with some impressive statistical performances — 341 yards rushing, 519 yards of offense against North Dakota, 407 rushing yards against Portland State and last week’s gaudy numbers against UNC — but one that is averaging just 23.7 points per game. MSU is averaging 28.1 points per game against FCS opponents and allowing 25.6. The Bobcats are 3-3 against FCS competition, 3-2 in Big Sky play.

“We were talking on the bus ride to the airport after the game and it’s a lot like North Dakota was playing a year ago (in 2015) where they controlled the ball, didn’t necessarily score a bunch of points, but controlled the football, ran the ball consistently, won the time of possession,” Armstrong said. “They were in every game. They had a few more bounces, found a way, had a more veteran team, whatever it was but found a way to win more than we have at this point.

“I would love to score more points and we need to find a way to score more points,” Armstrong continued. “That’s really in the red-zone. We need to do a better job of having a better plan and we need to execute better in the red-zone. The way we are playing gives us a chance to be in every ball game.”

Montana State wide receiver Mitch Herbert (82) tackled by Eastern Washington linebacker Kenter Kupp

Montana State wide receiver Mitch Herbert (82) tackled by Eastern Washington linebacker Kenter Kupp/ by Blake HempsteadMontana State’s wide receivers have been touted as the most improved group on the Bobcat offense. Senior Mitch Herbert seems to be back to the All-Big Sky form of his sophomore season in 2015. Junior college transfer Jabarri Johnson, a hulking 6-foot-4, 215-pounder who spent two seasons at Sac State prior to JC, has proven he is a legitimate red-zone threat.

Because of MSU’s desire to run the ball and “drag games into the fourth quarter”, as Choate has preached all season, sometimes Herbert goes over 100 yards receiving like he did against UNC and sometimes the outside receivers are relegated to blocking for more than 65 offensive snaps per game.

“In the past few weeks, it’s been the game plan going in to establish a run game because Chris is pretty dynamic with his feet and controlling the clock against some of those teams that put up a lot of points offensively with an up-tempo style, us being able to hold the ball play into our favor,” said Herbert, who finished with six catches for 105 yards and his 18th career touchdown against UNC. “Going forward, I think we will throw the ball effectively but holding the ball for 40 minutes a game like we have a few times can make it difficult on the opposing team.”

The improvements of Murray as a passer have been well chronicled. As a true freshman, Murray rushed for more than 100 yards four times despite starting just five games. But he completed just 44 percent of his passes.

The disparity in skill sets was on full display in MSU’s 24-17 win over Montana in Missoula. Murray rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns but completed just two passes in, to this point, is MSU’s signature win in two seasons under Choate.

Chris Murray is tackled against Eastern Washington/ EWU athletics

Murray has been spectacular and spectacularly average thus far in 2017. He threw for 311 yards and added 107 yards rushing in a near-upset of No. 4 South Dakota State. He threw two impressive touchdowns in a 49-21 win over North Dakota. But he completed just 8-of-22 passes in the loss to Weber State and just 2-of-9 in the 30-22 win over Portland State.

The 19-year-old — Murray’s birthday is in October, so he started his first college game at 17 last season — could not find a rhythm in a 31-19 loss at then-No. 8 Eastern Washington. He completed 10-of-22 passes for 135 yards, committed a crucial fumble in the red zone and threw a drive-killing interception later on. Following that loss, Montana State’s fourth in six games, Choate did not allow Murray to talk to the media. He canceled the quarterback’s weekly Wednesday session the following week with reporters as well.

Choate said after MSU’s thrilling win over Northern Colorado that he had a sit down meeting with his quarterback. The stern, discipline-oriented head coach said the talk had “nothing to do with what was going on between the white lines.” Instead, Choate emphasized the necessity for preparation, the expectation within the program of what it takes to be a complete quarterback and what he wanted Murray to display to his teammates in order to instill confidence in the rest of the Bobcats.

“It probably resonated a little more after the Eastern game because I know he felt terrible about it, like any of us would if we let our teammates down,” Choate said on Monday.

“Our talk was more about being consistent in your approach, paying attention to detail when you are sitting down with your math tutor or communicating the right way with the academic center or taking care of your body and getting enough sleep. Those are things that championship guys do. As the quarterback, you have to model that behavior.”

Montana State quarterback Chris Murray

Against UNC, Murray threw an interception that led to a touchdown right before halftime to put MSU in a 21-7 hole. After halftime, Murray used patience and strong throwing fundamentals to regain his early-season form. He completed 20-of-35 passes for 222 yards while also managing to rush for 150 yards despite the Bears’ double-QB spy strategy.

“What we need from Chris is consistency, be the same guy every day,” Armstrong said before the UNC game. “We’ve seen the really good Chris on Saturdays and that kid is pretty darn good. When things aren’t going his way, he has a tendency to press. As a quarterback, you have to let the game come to you. You can’t dictate everything.

“There’s no doubt he as the ability to make plays. There’s no doubt he gives us a heck of a chance to win when he plays well. All my talks with him are about him being the same guy every day. We don’t need consistently great. We just need consistently good and occasionally great.”

Murray and the Montana State offense will next try to be consistently good against Idaho State in Bozeman on Saturday. The Bengals, led by Buck Buchanan Award candidate senior linebacker Mario Jenkins, are much improved from the team that only won four games combined the prior two seasons.

Former Montana State linebacker Roger Cooper is coaching linebackers at Idaho State. He coordinated ISU’s defense for several seasons under former MSU and ISU head coach Mike Kramer before being retained under first-year head coach Rob Phenicie. Cooper doesn’t seem many deficiencies in Murray’s abilities.

“It’s fun to watch them but unfortunately now, we have to play them,” Cooper said on Tuesday night from Pocatello. “They run every formation in the book, every shift in the book, every motion. They make you cover the whole field. But the issue is No. 8 (Murray) is so good, you have to definitely account for him in everything you do. But it’s tough when they spread the field with option stuff. There is no real weak link. They spread you thin and they gash you.”

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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